Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) — Dragon V2 PMD¶

Location: Hawthorne, CA
Type: Industry (large, commercial launch provider)
FO Projects: 94146
Outcome Category: Commercial Product (Crew Dragon → operational human spaceflight)
Confidence: Confirmed (Crew Dragon flew; PMD is flight-proven hardware)

Summary¶

SpaceX used FO parabolic flights to validate the propellant management device (PMD) for Dragon V2's propellant tanks. The PMD ensures single-phase liquid delivery from tanks in microgravity — a known failure mode if improperly designed. After FO validation (TRL5→7), the Dragon V2 became Crew Dragon, which has since flown ~20 crewed missions (through Crew-12, Feb 2026) across NASA rotational flights, Axiom commercial missions (Ax-1 through Ax-4), Inspiration4, Polaris Dawn, and Fram2. SpaceX debuted its 5th and final Crew Dragon capsule ("Grace") on Axiom-4 (mid-2025). Crew-13 is NET October 2026. NASA is working with SpaceX to extend each capsule's certified lifespan to 15 flights, up from the original design life. This is unusual in the FO portfolio: a large commercial company using a NASA program as a testing service for a specific component.

Timeline:

2014–2017: FO parabolic flight tests of Dragon V2 PMD (TechPort 94146, TRL5→7)
2020: Crew Dragon Demo-2 (first crewed flight, May 2020)
2020–present: Crew Dragon operational — ~20 crewed flights through Crew-12 (Feb 2026); Crew-13 NET Oct 2026
Fleet of 5 capsules: Endeavour, Resilience, Endurance, Freedom, Grace — NASA targeting 15 flights per capsule
No further Dragon capsules will be built — fleet fixed at 5, long-term transition to Starship
CRS-33 splashdown Feb 27, 2026 — first Dragon configured for ISS reboost (6 reboosts during 6-month stay)
CRS-34 NET May 2026
This FO validation is one small piece of a much larger Dragon V2 development program

TechPort Record: 94146 ¶

Title: Dragon V2 Propellant Management Device (PMD) Microgravity Testing
Program: Flight Opportunities (FO)
Period: 2014-07-14 to 2017-07-14
TRL: 5 → 7 (current: 7)
Lead Org: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (acronym: SPACEX)
PI: Robin C Titus
TX: TX01.1.1 Integrated Systems and Ancillary Technologies
Outcome records: 1 × "Advanced To" (Other partner, 2013-11-01) — date predates project start, likely a data entry artifact
Library items: 0 — no documents, no linked resources

Downstream Impact¶

This case differs from typical FO projects: SpaceX was already a large, commercially-funded company. FO provided a specific service (access to parabolic flights) to validate one component. The downstream commercial value (Crew Dragon program) is enormous but cannot be attributed primarily to FO — Crew Dragon would have been developed without FO. FO reduced technical risk for one specific subsystem.

Context: NASA funded this through FO as part of Commercial Crew alignment — helps explain why a well-resourced company used FO. The NASA relationship was strategic as well as technical.

Notes¶

No documents attached — SpaceX almost never publishes detailed technical data
The 2013-11-01 "Advanced To" outcome predates the 2014 project start — likely entered retroactively to document earlier testing activity
USASpending search for SpaceX (as "Space Exploration Technologies") would return massive contracts (CRS, Commercial Crew, Starship) that are not causally linked to this FO project

Sources¶

TechPort 94146 (live API, 2026-04-04)

Last updated: Session 78, 2026-04-07 — CRS-33 splashdown Feb 27 (6 ISS reboosts — first Dragon with reboost capability). CRS-34 NET May 2026. No new crewed flights since Crew-12. Crew-13 still NET Oct 2026. No further Dragon capsules will be built — fleet fixed at 5, long-term transition to Starship.